Learn To Love Again
by HannieB123
Summary: He saw her again, as she lay dying in the snow, the scars on her face told a tale of sorrow and sadness, was she doomed to that fate throughout all of her lives? The keys at her side let him know that they had found her again, even after all this time, although this wasn't the same woman he fell in love with, he had to keep reminding himself of that. It wasn't his Lucy. Review!
1. The Promise We Made

**Chapter One**

 **The Promise We Made**

 **No One's POV**

 **November 2nd X1,400**

He met her for the first time in another life. She had the same blonde hair, the same warm smile, and somehow he remembered everything about her. He remembered the life he had with her almost six hundred years ago. That was a different age then, and we had come up very differently this time around.

She was only ten years old when he spotted her, he was three years older than her this time around, almost four, as he was thirteen going on fourteen. He was dressed in fancy clothes that he didn't care for, they choked and scratched his skin like crazy. He rode in a fancy carriage throughout the city known as Flore, in his previous life this city had gone by a much different name.

He was frowning as he looked outside, it was freezing outside and he pitied the poor fool who didn't have shelter. It was later in the day than the trip had planned for, and it was beginning to snow, building up into thick layers, like a blanket.

And that's when he spotted her.

Even in the night sky her blonde hair shone with a magnificence that was ethereal. She had a different facial structure, and her eyes were like gems, a dazzling green that could capture anyone's attention. But, it was still _her_ and he knew it. He would never forget her presence, or her smile. But she wasn't smiling now.

He cursed his old lovers rotten luck.

"Stop the carriage immediately" He yelled to the driver. Soon thereafter the horse drawn carriage was pulled to a stop and the young man with light blonde hair jumped into the gathering snow.

She was lying there, in front of him, a mess, her eyes barely opening to see who was approaching her. The only thing that wasn't dirty on her were the keys that shone brightly at her side, and he had to smile, so those had found their way back to her, after all these years...

He studied her for a bit longer, the clothes she wore were little more than a sack usually used to keep potato's in, her feet were bare and her legs were littered with scars, as were her arms, she was disgustingly dirty, but it didn't bother the young man any.

Carefully, he picked her up and tucked her into his chest, wondering if she would be okay. She was still alive, given the fact that she had opened her eyes a few moments earlier, but she was shivering with such intensity that it made the boy's body shake right along with her.

"Prince...May I ask what you are doing with the peasant girl?" His 'keeper' said with disgust, eyeing the little girl with disdain. The teen shot the man a glare so deadly that he soon after became deadly silent and got back into the carriage, mumbling under his breath about brats and what not.

The blonde haired boy got into the carriage again and silently wrapped a cloak around the young girl, in an attempt to keep her somewhat warm as they travelled the rest of the way to the palace, the snow was falling heavier now, as if it had been unhindered after the girls rescue.

As he sat waiting for them to arrive at his home, he couldn't help but look at the blonde's face, he shoved pieces of her blonde hair away so he could get a better look at her, of course it mattered not with all the dirt that smeared across it, but he faintly got a glimpse of a scar that ran across her nose, and another that stretched across her neck. Seeing those on this girl, mind you, one that was so young infuriated him, how, and why had she gotten these? Furthermore why was she suffering all alone in the coldness of fall?

More importantly, how had he not found her sooner, he'd been searching for her for years, hoping to come up with something, he knew it was rather impossible to meet someone from a previous life, he'd met many people in his travels though, some he even recognized from his previous life, so it wasn't impossible, at least not for him. No one else seemed to remember their previous lives though, he was alone in this. The girl laying on his lap no doubt wouldn't have a clue as to who he was and why he was so familiar with her. Or rather, the old her.

He needed to remind himself that she wasn't her.

But, he had never faced a harder challenge. She looked almost exactly like her.

Through his travels across Fiore, -where he'd ended up being born again- he'd met a pink haired woman. He'd laughed at the sight of her. She was twelve years old and a fiery little thing. Had fire magic and everything, dragon slaying abilities still ran through the veins of both himself and the woman that refused to go by any other name other than Nash. The blonde knew immediately that this fiery, explosive woman had been Natsu in his previous life, no doubt about it, a shame he'd been reborn a woman though.

He couldn't fight a girl, plus it's just plain weird.

He'd yet to meet the reincarnated Rogue though, he missed his friend dearly, and even if they weren't friends, even if he wasn't alive in this future the blonde wished that the man was well.

Of course he'd met a few others. Erza for example. Actually, there wasn't anything entirely different about the woman, she was still a force to be reckoned with, scary as all hell. The blonde had only met her in passing, turns out she was a knight in training for the kingdom, so he saw her fairly often.

Speaking of the kingdom...They were nearly there.

"Prince Eucliffe, we have arrived at the gates." It wasn't truly his name, but he just couldn't go by anything else, his real name in this life had been Ethan E. Fiore, it was a fine name, but he preferred his old one better and everyone knew to call him by this name, at least in the palace anyway. His keeper kept speaking to him before sting cut him off with a request of his own, in actuality his keeper's name was Blakely, a rather bland name for a rather bland man. Blakely wasn't a friendly person, and he wondered why the people whom were his parents in this life kept him around.

"Alright, tell the maids to run a hot bath for this girl, and also to prepare clothes." The prince said in a rushed tone. Without question the man jumped out of the carriage and ran to the doors, beginning to shout orders as soon as he stepped inside.

The blonde prince was glad the man knew how to take orders, although he did feel weird giving orders to people, he didn't want to be rude, and usually he didn't ask his maids to do things for him, but this was an emergency.

As soon at the carriage stopped he saw the knight in training, going by the plain name of Scarlet this time around coming to help him down from the carriage, gasping as she saw the bundle he carried in his arms.

"Prince Sting, what implored you to bring this girl to the castle?" Scarlet asked, trying to take the bundle from his arms, Sting growled at her and glared, daring her to try taking the girl away from him. Scarlet's eyes softened and she smiled faintly.

"I see. You are very kind, prince. Shall I assist with getting her washed?" Scarlet asked, becoming as stoic as ever once more. Sting sighed and nodded his head in approval, seeing she wasn't going to be a threat anymore, and as she was helping with the small blonde he would go and update his parents as to what was going on in their castle.

He didn't fear them kicking out the small blonde, they were compassionate people, and gave help to whomever needed it, and right now it was the ten year old girl that Scarlet was currently taking to the baths.

He smiled slightly as he walked down the corridors of the castle, the same castle that he'd last seen six hundred years ago, the magnificent Mercurius castle, located in what was now known as the city of Flore. Why they'd changed the name he hadn't figured out yet.

He felt like bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter as he thought about the blonde, he wondered if her name was the same, if she was the same as she was before, of course she would be, she had to be, it was _her_ after all, her heart was as bright as gold...

"Lucy, I've finally found you.."


	2. I'm Starting To Forget

**Chapter Two**

 **I'm Starting To Forget**

 **Sting's POV**

 **November 2nd X1,400**

After all the time he'd spent waiting on her, all the nights he had gazed up at the stars, wondering if he would meet her in this life as he had in his last. He never would have imagined meeting her like this, as she knocked on deaths door in the middle of a freak storm.

After he had gone and talked to the king and queen -who had graciously accepted the blonde to their home- he'd gone straight to the baths to wait for his long lost lover. As he leaned against the white marble walls he thanked whatever fate had led her to him again. He just wished it was under better circumstances. He wondered what deity his old love had made angry. Her last life was anything but sunshine and rainbows.

After what seemed like hours the blonde teen heard the tapping of feet coming down the corridor from the bath house. At first glance he caught Scarlet, struggling with a small blonde who looked absolutely terrified to be near her. It seemed as though the blonde had a temper, that was another thing that made Sting sure of the fact that she was indeed his old love.

"Let me go, please let me go!" She snarled at Scarlet, tears threatening to fall from her emerald green eyes, something that reminded him that she wasn't exactly the same as before, their were differences about her that he found undeniable.

"Scarlet." He called, as soon as the words left his lips the knight in training halted in her efforts and the small blonde stopped struggling to get out of the teens grip, eyes going wide with what Sting assumed to be fright.

It couldn't possibly be that...

No, there was no way. He shook the thought aside as her eyes became normal once more, holding an emotion that the blonde haired boy wasn't able to recognize at that point in time.

"Prince Eucliffe. The girl has obviously woken up from her slumber. We tended to her wounds, nothing critical, just some scrapes. She refuses to stay in the castle though, she's been trying to escape since she awoke." Scarlet said, her voice taking one of authority. Sting really would never get used to seeing Erza in this new woman. Although he knew without a doubt she was one in the same. She just couldn't remember her previous life.

"And why is that, little one?" Sting said as he bent down to eye level with the small blonde. The girl scrambled backwards, finding Scarlet's legs to be the best place to hide her, the prince frowned at this, he hated that someone who looked so much like Lucy could be so scared of him.

The small ten year old frowned at his question, and bit her lip, looking from Sting to Scarlet and then back once more.

"I-I'm not...I-I shouldn't be here." The girl trembled as she spoke, once again there were tears falling from her face, and Sting wondered just how many tears she was going to shed. He hated this.

"Can you tell me your name, little one?" He goaded, his voice was as soft as he could make it, a small smile on his face, and he hoped his eyes were holding anything but their usual harshness.

"L-Lucy. B-But t-that's all I k-know." His breath hitched in his throat and he fought the urge to fall backwards onto the marbled floor. He knew it. He knew he would find her eventually, there was no doubt in his mind anymore that this small, fragile, beautiful girl in front of him was his old lover.

"It's nice to meet you, Lucy. My name is St-"

"I know who you are." Lucy cut him off. His eyes widened. But then he realized she was probably referring to seeing newspapers about him, or television lacrima broadcasts, he was the prince after all.

"I've met you before...Not here though, I just can't figure it out." She stated, her voice as small as she could make it, Sting barely heard her, but he did. His smile grew, and his heart leapt, so there was a chance that she could still remember her previous life! She might be able to remember him and all the memories they had together, -although he hoped she wouldn't remember _that-_ this had to have been one of the happiest days in his so far short existence in this life.

"It's fuzzy, like it's trying to disappear." She relented. Lucy was still hiding behind Scarlet's legs, and by now the knight was wanting to go back to her duties, Sting dismissed her with a wave of his hand, the scarlet haired teen didn't need to know about this conversation, she would probably think her prince had gone mad.

As soon as she was out of sight Lucy allowed Sting to pick her up and carry her to his chambers, where a fire lacrima was lit and hot cocoa was waiting for them both.

His room wasn't all that grand, he had wanted something small, something that reminded him of his home with Lucy from before. Unfortunately, as he was the prince and he lived in a gigantic castle there wasn't room for small. But, he had gotten the smallest they could find as soon as he could speak his own mind and make his own decisions. It was mostly white, just as his previous home had been, although this time he'd added some gold trimmings and painted a few stars and dragons to top it off.

All in all he was perfectly content with this room.

He set Lucy on the soft white couch and grabbed the hot chocolate before sitting down beside her.

"Can you tell me why you aren't suppose to be here?" He asked, she shook her head as she looked around the room.

"No, _he_ told me I wasn't allowed to tell, _he_ told me I should never come here. But I had to, I just had to know who you were to me." She sniffled rubbed her small nose on her sleeve, Sting made a face but decided not to comment, she _was_ only ten years old this time around, he would tell her later that it was gross.

"I suppose you can't tell me who you are talking about?" Another shake. Okay, so thus far he was only getting more questions than he was answers, it seemed as if this little Lucy was keen on keeping secrets. Something he wasn't fond of doing this time around.

"Can you tell me anything? Like why you were out in this storm?" He questioned, he sincerely hoped she had a good reason for being out there, she was ten years old for goodness sake! Someone like Lucy should be safe and warm, always. He was curious about this man she was talking about as well, although it seemed he wouldn't be getting answers anytime soon, but whoever it was, the fact remained that they already didn't sit well with Sting Eucliffe.

a small nod, "I was looking for answers. I saw you on a newspaper and you seemed familiar somehow, I've known you before, haven't I? Just not in this life, right?" She questioned. Sting gaped at her. This tiny Lucy was smart for a child the mere age of ten. He wondered why she seemed to remember herself having a past life, no one he had ever encountered had ever mentioned feeling the same. It was insane.

"Yes, You knew me before this life. We were...Well...I'll tell you when your older what we were." He smirked playfully at her, making the small girl blush slightly.

"I already have an idea as to what we were. How else would you feel so familiar to me? You were very, very close to my heart, were you not?" She smiled shyly before hiding her face in the large mug of hot cocoa her small hands gripped tightly. Sting relaxed and fell into the soft couch nodding his head. "Yeah, I was." he smiled softly and glanced at the small girl from the corner of his eye.

Now that he looked at her, without the mud caking her small frame, it was difficult not to notice the similarities and differences between his old Lucy and this new one. They had the same colored blonde hair, except this Lucy's was a tiny bit curlier, her eyes still sparkled the same way when they looked at him, but now they were a different color, and of course, the biggest difference was her age, and the biggest similarity were the keys still hanging lovingly by her side.

"You summon spirits?" He asked casually, and just like that her eyes lit up in happiness as she asked if he would like to see one of them.

He'd not mention the scars for now.


	3. Last Life

**Chapter Three**

 **Last Life**

 **Sting's POV**

 **November 2nd X1,400**

The moment the small blonde summoned the lion spirit Sting knew something was going to happen. And happen it did. The familiar orange haired man stared between Lucy and Sting for mere seconds before nodding his head and holding a hand out to the young teenager. Sting really couldn't believe his eyes, this was someone he knew with absolute certainty from a time so long ago.

"I knew you'd find her again." The man said, Sting stared wide eyed at the familiar man. He didn't know whether to feel happy or not at seeing a familiar face around, one that undoubtedly remembered everything from the time _past_ Lucy was alive. It was somewhat of a relief though, for some reason or another.

"Do you remember me?" The orange haired spirit asked after a while, Sting nodded his head in silence, unable to form words, in a way he felt like crying. This man before him knew! He knew of the past that Sting shared with his key holder. The blonde haired dragon slayer didn't understand why this simple greeting was taking such an emotional toll on him, but damn it all to hell, it was!

"I remember everything. And she is who I think she is, correct?" Sting asked in a rushed tone, his emotional wall was breaking as Loke, or Leo whichever he went by now nodded his head, but he had a sad, faraway look in his eyes as he cast a glance at the small present Lucy, who was staring between the two men in silent shock, obviously wondering how the two knew each other.

"Princess here was granted all the keys when she was born, the last celestial mage in existence. After the twins ended up not remarrying, the age of celestial mages died. Only to come back when Lucy, or should I say Evangeline Night was born." The small Lucy shook her head in anger. "That's not my name and you know it Loke!" She bellowed, the lion spirit only smiled and patted her head soothingly.

"Anyways, I shouldn't say that it only just came back. Lucy here gets reborn faster than any other person. The time she spends between death and her next life is only five years. And we always end up getting bestowed to her by our king. She's been searching for you in every lifetime, Sting. Problem is, she's forgetting." Loke said, his face solemn. Sting stumbled backwards and ended up sitting back on the couch, the information he just took in was almost to much to bear, and it seemed as though the spirit wasn't done talking.

Sting had to wonder what all of those years did to the girl in front of him, had she felt alone? What had all her lives been like? Here he was feeling sorry for himself because he was the only one that remembered his previous life, keyword being _life_ , while his Lucy had suffered through so many. Alone. And she had remembered them all, only now just starting to forget them. It seemed that fate was playing a cruel trick.

She'd been searching for him all this time too, she remembered him through all of her lives, she remembered all of the friends she lost, and kept loosing as they all grew old and passed away, just for her to be reborn and remember everything? It just didn't seem fair to him, what had Lucy done to deserve that?

"There's one more thing I need to tell you." Loke said, bringing the attention back to himself, Sting looked up to see that he had sent Lucy to the bathroom with a pair of clothes, undoubtedly from the spirit world.

By the look on the spirits face, Sting knew this was going to be serious and he knew he wasn't going to like anything that came out of the other mans mouth.

"A man has been following her through her lives. At first I thought it was you, but the energy he's been giving off the last century or so is dark, I think you can gather just from that who I'm talking about, as nothing was ever done about him in your lifetime. He follows her everywhere, gives her horrible dreams, the rest of her spirits and I can't find anyway to find him, he's hidden himself well.

But he tells her things and she listens, he's gotten her to trust him like he was her own father. Now that she's found you, it will give us time to figure out what exactly is going on, but for now, please keep her safe and we'll do what we can from the spirit world. I know your wondering about the scars, she gets herself into dangerous situations a lot more often than the Lucy from previous times ever did, she'll probably tell you all about her adventures.

Her family, by the way, won't be coming to collect her. She wasn't born into the warmest household this time around and well, they were eventually killed, Lucy's the only one that escaped the mess." the man paused to take a breath and to look over at the blonde who was coming out of the bathroom with pink pajamas on.

"She's exactly like her, isn't she? She's retained all of her old habits, she just has different parents each time around, and of course she's a lot more reckless. It's sad though, watching this girl live through so many hardships, so many lives where she hasn't had the one thing she's been searching for. Enjoy this life you have with her Sting, it truly is the last life she has. Her souls journey is finally coming to an end. After this, there will be no more Lucy Heartfilia."

And just like that the lion spirit was gone, leaving in a bright poof of smoke.

* * *

After Loke had left, the room seemed somber now, the mood drifting into one of silence and sadness. Sting looked down to Lucy as she sat on the floor, leaning against the couch watching the fire in silence, her knees tucked up to her chest and her small blonde head resting on them. He couldn't believe that after all this time, this was the last life he'd get to share with Lucy, he'd waited so long to be able to be with her again, fourteen years of waiting if he didn't count the centuries that were in between.

But Lucy, it turned out she had been the one waiting on him. All this time she'd been so lonely, forgetting bits and pieces of their history together as the centuries flew by, she was reborn, she lived, she died, she was reborn, so many times, and he wasn't there for any of those lifetimes! Here he had been thinking if he remembered this life he was sure to remember the ones that came next, but to know that Lucy wouldn't be joining this world ever again after her time here was over was devastating.

"I know this is...the last time I'll be alive in this world. I don't know why everyone has to keep it from me." Lucy suddenly whispered, her hair falling over her eyes, making it so the blonde man couldn't see her expression.

"I've been searching for you for so long, but now I'm starting to forget why I even was, who I even was before this life. I know I'm young now, but I know things. I know I've forgotten things that used to be easy for me to remember. I know I should be scared. But I'm not. I'm tired." The small blonde girl was shaking, and Sting knew she was crying, as silent as she was trying to be her sniffles and sobs were growing louder. Those along with the words she spoke made his heart ache in sadness.

"But I'm so very glad that I get to spend this last life of mine with you, the person I've been searching centuries for. Even if I can't remember everything about you anymore, or the times we shared together." She paused to let a sob shake through her tiny body, wiping her teary eyes on the cloth covering her knees, making it seem as though she were shaking back and forth.

"I want to be with you! That's where I've always wanted to be."


	4. Follow Me

**Follow Me**

 **Sting's POV**

He held this tiny version of Lucy in his arms as she slept, he couldn't believe that he had found her after all this time, but he was also stuck thinking about this horrible feeling of dread and sadness that had seemed to attach itself to his very core.

This was the last life he would get to spend with his beloved, and there was no guarantee that she would even remember him a few days from now, as her memories seemed to be getting hazier by the day.

He looked down at the small girl clutching at his clothes in her sleep, blue eyes glistening with emotions he hadn't felt in so long. Her blonde hair curled around her and the pink night gown was loose on her small body. Now that she was clean he was able to get a better look at all the scars that adorned her body, Loke had said that she gets into trouble more than she had in her previous life with him, but these scars looked as though they weren't there by a mere accident.

Someone had given those to her. He knew for certain that the lion spirit had not told him everything about the this Lucy. For instance they knew something about why _that_ person was following her through lifetimes they just weren't willing to give him answers. He knew he would find out eventually though, he also knew that they were keeping him out of the loop on who her parents had been in this lifetime, he was sure, though, that he could get information on these 'Night' people.

"Don't….Papa.." Sting looked down at Lucy as she whimpered in his arms, tears starting to form in her eyelashes, hugging her tighter to his chest he willed her to stop shaking, to stop crying, anything so he didn't have to go through the torture that was Lucy's nightmare. In the previous life he'd had with her he hadn't been able to handle them, he didn't think it would be any different now.

"I don't….to...alone..." suddenly the crying ceased and the shaking stopped, the blonde haired prince held the girl tighter, waiting…For what he didn't know, but he would be there for Lucy, he wouldn't leave her alone in this. That was for damn sure.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open, only they weren't the eyes he had dreamed of seeing every waking moment of his fourteen years on this planet, they were the eyes of a stranger, no longer the warm brown that he had been looking forward to seeing once again. No, instead an emerald green color had been put in their place. He frowned, he really needed to get used to the fact that he'd never see those brown orbs that he had fallen completely in love with again, this was a different world, a different life. He knew it was her mind, mostly anyway, but it wasn't her body. It was that of a strangers. A small unknown girl who'd suffered from one life to the next without fail.

"St..Sting.." The small blonde whispered, wiping at his cheeks with a shaky hand, he himself reached up to cup her small hand in his, holding it against his wet cheek. He hadn't known when he had started to cry, but he knew that they had come with his realization….

This really wasn't his Lucy. This was someone with the same mind and soul, but those would eventually dwindle away and she would forget about the previous life they shared. He'd come to the heartbreaking realization, that he had lost her. Most importantly, he came to the realization, that after she died in this life, that was it, it was over, he wouldn't be able to fall in love with her again, and again.

"I..I know what you're thinking. But, I do remember bits and pieces of our life together, I remember always being happy with you, I remember having kids, and getting married, I remember watching all of our friends getting married and having kids. I even remember my promise to meet you again...I'm sorry that...that this is the last life we have with each other." Lucy whispered, hopping down from his lap and opting to sit by the hearth of the fire place instead so he couldn't see the refection on her face, she was silhoutted by the fire that burned brightly.

Sting was amazed at what she was able to remember from their previous life together, but that didn't change the fact that this entire situation was fucked up. It was completely and utterly fucked up. He wanted to have more than just two lives with her, but who was she anymore anyways? He didn't know anything about that likes of the ten year old girl in front of him, whose birth name was Evangeline Night. "Don't call me that name!" Startled from his thoughts he looked up to see the small girl inches from his face, a snarl just on the tip of her lips and a deadly glare in her eyes.

"How...How did you…?" Sting wasn't even able to finish the sentence as the girl pointed at her ears. "I can hear you." She stated simply before returning to her place on the hearth. Sting wondered how that was possible, had she gained a power in this life?

"I was gifted with these keys and the magic to use them, that doesn't mean it's my main magic, it wasn't the magic I was born with or the magic I was taught or whatever." The small girl stated simply, Sting could see that this new Lucy really had a bad temper, maybe even worse that old Lucy.

"Okay, so what's your main magic Luce?" Sting questioned curiously, as he moved to sit in front of her so he could see her face, in the process he didn't fail to notice the blush that stained her small cheeks at the nickname.

"I'll tell you if you tell me yours, is it still dragon slaying magic? I remember you had that last time." She questioned him, he nodded excitedly and brought forth some of his magic, her eyes grew with delight at the bright orbs that began to float around the room. He had to admit, even if her eyes were different the life they held was the same.

"Okay, now tell me yours!" He chirped excitedly, and he really was excited, Lucy however, got a faraway look in her eyes and cast her eyes away from him, it would seem as though she did not like her new form of magic and was ashamed of it. Deathly afraid of it.

"Papa taught it to me. It's pretty and makes thing go 'Boom!' he called it New World Magic." Lucy whispered, Sting was intrigued, he'd never heard of a magic called that before. "Of course I use my celestial spirits more, but that was just a gift from the stache face man!" the young girl chirped.

"Lucy...What does your other magic do?" Sting asked, he wasn't actually getting the best feeling about this, now that he thought about the conversation he had with Loke earlier...About a man that Lucy viewed as a father, a man that had been following her through all of her lifetimes….

"I've had a lot of magics over my lifetimes, some were better than others. But, papa only recently taught me this one, my parents didn't have magic in this lifetime, so he decided since my magic container wasn't occupied by any other magics other than my celestial magic this time that he would teach me his magic!" Lucy said excitedly as she pushed her little body up, and went over to the nightstand table where a vase lay with a single rose, red as cherries.

"Lucy, what does your magic do?!" Sting was pretty frantic at this point, but he had an idea already. And as he watched Lucy touch the flowers stem as it leaned against the glass vase his suspicions were deemed true.

As he watched as the green stem grew brown and the flowers red as blood petals turned black as the night sky. He knew.

"It kills things..." she whispered, a tight smile adorning her face and eyes gleaming.


	5. The Girl I Used To Love

**Chapter Five.**

 **The Girl I Used To Love**

 **Sting's POV**

Sting watched as what was once a blood red rose shriveled out of existence, turning into dust as it made its way through the ten year olds fingers. He couldn't believe the power this little girl possessed, the kinds of things that she was capable of. This wasn't the Lucy he had grown to love so many centuries ago, no, this little girl was nothing like her.

He watched as her eyes almost sparkled in satisfaction at the fact that she had just ended something life, albeit it was not another human beings, it was something far more insignificant, but all the same. The Lucy that he used to know, well she could never harm a fly.

That's what he liked to believe anyways.

'You...You killed it.' The blonde man whispered as he stared at the small blonde haired girl, had her lion spirit really thought that he wouldn't want to know about the kind of power his old lover possessed.

'As I've said, I don't enjoy using this power, but it does give a kind of rush...Papa, he said that this power would help me, would help him in some way, he didn't explain further.' Lucy stated as she moved her eyes from the dead plant and back to the blonde haired boy.

'Listen, I know I've said already that I've been searching for you, but the truth remains that I don't remember you as well as I used to, I know you were someone who once held my heart, and I know that I love you, but the facts are staring you in the face are they not?' The small girl questioned, placing her hands behind her back and balancing on the balls of her feet. Sting was confused, didn't they just have a heartfelt moment before she showed him his power? Wasn't she confiding in him as well?

'I'm not the same person that I was before. I've lost something, somewhere throughout all of these lives, I've lost what I was before. I still love you, I know that, and I know that I want to spend this last life of mine with you, but I need you to be aware, that the Lucy Heartfilia that you knew from so long ago, well, she's not who I am, not anymore.' The small girl paused to take a breath, not bothering to look at the white dragon slayer who was near tears. Of course he knew that she wasn't the same, anyone would be a fool to think that this little girl was the same one he had fallen in love with.

'It seems, in this last life of mine, that my memories of our time together in our previous life, really are fading. I can barely remember anything about you.' Lucy stared solemnly at the fire that burned and crackled in the hearth as she finished talking.

'I'm truly sorry that I'm forgetting you. After all this time...I didn't think it was possible to forget someone like you.' Sting silently came up behind the small girl and placed a large hand on her bony shoulder, she jumped slightly at the touch and looked up to see the man she had previously loved looking down at her with teary eyes.

'I'll just have to make you fall in love with me again then' he whispered gently a small, sad smile on his face. Lucy was surprised at this, for in this life no one had taken such an interest in the likes of her. After all no one wanted to care for the child of the Night family. No one.

'I don't want to waste this life without you, I've searched everywhere for you, I'm not about to let you get away from me. Not ever, I'll be with you forever.' Sting said gently as he moved to put the fire out, he was absolutely exhausted, they had time to talk tomorrow, he hoped her memories wouldn't dwindle more by then.

The small blonde gazed at the man before her with wonder. Of course some of her memories were still there, she could still remember the warmth of his voice, the care and love he held for her in his heart, she knew that this time around it was still there, and he wouldn't be deterred in pursuing her, even when she had bluntly told him not to. For who was to say if she would remember him at all come morning?

But instead of telling him that, she decided to play along, to take a chance with him.

'Do you promise me that?' She questioned, becoming every inch the ten year old that she really was. Sting turned and saw how unsure this small version of Lucy truly looked, as if the answer to her question was a terrifying thing, she had red rimmed eyes, unshed tears and she was bunching her night shirt up as if it was the only comfort in the entire world.

He knew the answer to that question of hers, it was simple, it had always been the answer, to everything. He used to tell her all the time the same thing, back in their previous life together. He didn't know how a simple word could become a pathway to everything he's ever wanted, it was the word of promise. It was the last thing he had ever whispered to her.

So why was it so hard to say it now.

Lucy looked up to him with those emerald green eyes that definitely were _not_ his Lucy's, but at the same time this small, frail child in front of him was what he was waiting his entire life for. She was and will always be his entire world, whether she forgets or not, she would forever be his one and only.

So with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face, he whispered one word.

 _'Always.'_


	6. Set Your Heart Free

**Chapter Six**

 **Set Your Heart Free**

 **Sting's POV**

The blonde haired dragon slayer stretched lazily as he awoke the next morning, noticing the slight dip in the bed, he turned his head over and reality came crashing down, he didn't know to feel elated or disgruntled. Would she still remember him today?

Slowly as to not wake the sleeping girl he climbed down from bed and slowly got ready for the day before taking a seat beside her. He stared at her features for longer than he probably should have, he couldn't help it though. She may have the face of a child still, but when she slept and he couldn't see those piercing green eyes, she looked exactly like Lucy.

Everything about her screamed Lucy. And he wondered why that made him so upset.

Without thinking he reached down to trace the scar that ran along her face, it travelled from one side of her face, across her nose and halfway across her other cheek, he was truly infuriated when he saw how deep it ran and how far it ran along her face, after she had gotten a bath and cleaned he hadn't paid attention to all the scars that littered her tiny body. She was way to thin as well, as if she hadn't had a decent meal in days. Weren't her spirits supposed to be taking care of her, and truthfully what had happened to her parents in this life time?

Why was she all alone?

His gaze travelled down to the scar across her throat, it had to have been intentional, the way it was placed, so even, it didn't run jagged at all, as if they had cut off her head and then sewed it back on, it ran all the way around, he noted.

'My parents this time weren't good people, I was behaving badly' the blonde man jumped at the sound of her voice, it was deep with sleep and emotion, he watched as she reached her hand up to her neck and rubbed at the scar, but he wasn't really paying attention anymore, he had become livid.

'Your parents did this to you?!' he snarled, how dare someone hurt such a small girl in this way, what other things had she suffered at the hand of the Night family? Judging by the way the scar had faded she'd had it for a while at least since she was six years old.

'Don't worry they won't hurt anyone ever again...' The coldness of her voice startled him, he was still angry, more than angry he was furious, if he hadn't known the people to be dead already he would have hunted them down and killed them himself.

It was how she said the sentence that caught him off guard.

And he knew what she had done because of it.

He couldn't say he was shocked at the sudden realization, after all anyone who would do that to a girl the mere age of six was beyond earning forgiveness. But still, to know that Lucy had done it.

Once more, he had to remember that this little girl truly wasn't _his Lucy._ She was someone else entirely.

Maybe all the things she had seen, all the people she had lost was finally catching up with her sanity.

'They weren't good people Sting. They weren't...They...' She was cut off as she found herself in the arms of the blonde haired man, and suddenly she couldn't hold it in anymore, all the pain she had been feeling, the fear, the life she had lived up until now hadn't been the greatest and at the mere age of 9 she was...she was...well she couldn't bring herself to even think it. She had to do it, Papa had told her to do it, had taught her this magic specifically for that reason, so she could end her suffering and the suffering of everyone else back at that place.

'Shh. I know, I know.' Sting tried to calm the crying girl. He wondered what Lucy had done to anger the gods in such a way, had all of her lives been this way? Had she suffered through things such as this all alone? He didn't want to think that she had.

Sting felt heavy with grief for the girl he was currently holding in his arms, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her head was pushed into the crook of his neck, her legs wrapped around his waist. She was sobbing uncontrollably and he didn't know what to do besides whisper in her ear that it would all be okay, she would be alright and he would never let anything bad happen to her ever again.

'I promise I won't let you get hurt anymore...Not anymore' Sting whispered in her ear as her crying finally died down to a mere sniffling, her breathing was heavy and snot was dripping from her nose, but Sting didn't care, he wanted, no, he needed her to know that she would be okay, for the rest of her existence, she wouldn't be hurt again.

He set the small girl down on the ground after her sniffling stopped, he kneeled down beside her and the two stared at each other, both promising something the other wasn't aware of when suddenly a knock on the door sounded throughout the room, the man kneeling before her sighed before standing and brushing invisible flecks of dust from his clothes.

'I need to get that, it's probably Scarlet asking about you.' he said in a whisper as he walked away from the blonde, who was currently wiped her nose on the hem of her shirt, Sting didn't mind though, if that's what she wanted to do, who was he to stop her.

'Prince, I know your in there and I need to speak with you immediately' the voice of the young knight in training called in a panic. Sting's eyes widened and he hurried his pace to the door. There was something about her voice that he didn't like.

Swinging the door open the scarlet haired mage walked in without so much as a look at him or waiting for his approval like she would usually do.

Something was definitely odd. Shaking his head he threw the door closed as he made his way to where Scarlet was standing in front of Lucy.

'Is it you, truly is it you?' The requip mage asked softly. Sting whipped his head up in surprise to find the fourteen year old looking between the two of them with wide eyes. No one answered so she clarified;

'I remember you both, I remember everything. How can I remember you and the life we shared hundreds of years ago?'


End file.
